Rotary engine.



No. 720,542. l vPATEN'IED FEB. 10, 1903.-

I v J. C. WHARTON.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEQ. a, 1902.

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PATENTED 11313.10, 190s. J. c. WHARTON. ROTARY ENGINE. APPLlOATNN FILED DBO. 3, 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

,N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES PATENTy Ormea.

JOHN O. VHARTON, OF NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE.

ROTARY ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 720,542, dated February 10, 1903. Application filed December 3, 1902. Serial No. 133,733. (No model.)

T0 a/ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN C. WHARTON, of Nashville,in the county of Davidson and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Rotary Engines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to rotary engines of the type shown, for instance, in Patent No.V 96,262, dated October 26, 1869, in Which t`w0 cylinders placed side by side are provided, respec-tively, with oppositely-moving pistons, which pistons are rigidly connected together by a diaphragm, which passes through from one cylinder-chamber to the other, the induction and exhaust ports being located on opposite sides of this diaphragm, one above and the other below the diaphragm, and which diaphragm rigidly connecting the rolling pistons has a tilting movement, asa lever upon a fulcrum, and also a sliding movement through the opening from onecylinder to the other, so as to accommodate the reverse rolling or scouring movement of the pistons when under the iniuence of the steam-pressure.

My invention comprehends certain novel constructions and arrangements of parts in this type of engine, which I will now proceed to describe with reference to the drawings, in whichv Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section through line 1 1 of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a horizontal longitudinal section through line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. is a vertical longitudinal section on line 3 3 of Fig. 2;Y and Fig. 4. is a side view of my engine, showing a system of compounding Y l A A A A A A' are three pairs of steamcylinders arranged longitudinally side by side.

B B B2 B3 B4 B5 are eccentrics keyed to shafts C C. in the three respective divisions of the'engine, marked between the dotted lines as division 1, division 2, and division 8 and formed vby placing partitions A2 A3 A4 A5 in the main cylinder or casing A A', which partitions are held by pins or set-screws s, as shown. The eccentrics in the different divisions of the casing project alternately in opposite directions. Thus B B' and B4 B5 project to the left and B2 B3 project (in opposition) to the right.

, D D' D2 D2 D4 D5 are pairs of cylindrical ring-shaped piston-heads, the heads of each pair being rigidly joined by a diaphragm, as shown at G in Fig. 1. These ring-shaped heads inclose the eccentrics B B and form rolling pistons, which scour around in their cylinders in opposite directions, causing the diaphragm to both tilt and slide.

Each pair of twin cylinders has an induction-port H and exhaust-port J opening, respectively, on opposite sides of the diaphragm G.

The three divisions of the engine are shown in Fig. 4 as compounded. With valves J J2 and H2 H2 closed and H' J2 and N2 Niopen steam enters through valve H', works in the tirst division, then through pipe N and valve N2 passes to the induction-port of the second division, thence through the second division, actingexpansively, and from its exhaust-port out through pipe Nl and valve N3 to theinduction-port of the lthird division, thence through exhaust-valve J 3 into the waste-pipe.

The three divisions may, however, work independently by opening valves H H2 H3 and J' J2 J3 and closing valves N2 N3, in which case steam passes in through H H2 H3 to each division of the cylinder and thence directly out at the top through J' J2 J3. The diaphragm in each division passes through a slot from one cylinder to the corresponding one on the other side and rides on fulcrumbars F F in the middle position, one being above and the other below the diaphragm.

At the middle point of each pair of cylinders and below the diaphragm G is the steaminduction' port H and immediately above the diaphragm in the same vertical line is the exhaust port J. Steam admitted through port H, Fig. 1, causes the piston B D to rise and move to the right, and the piston B' D accordingly descends and moves to the right, causing the steam in this cylinder to be exhausted above the diaphragm in the righthand cylinder, passing out through the exhaust port J. In this movement the diaphragm G slides at first to the right between the fulcrum-bars F F and also tilts as alever on the same to accommodate the reverse rolling or scouring action of the pistons in the two cylinders, the general path of move- IdO ment of the two pistons being such as to describe a gure '8. Steam is alternately admitted to and exhausted from the opposite cylinder to continue this motion. t

E E/ E2 E3 E4 E5 are eccentric-spaces formed between the eccentrics and the inclosing rings in their respective divisions, (divisions 1, 2, and 3,) as shown'in Fig. 2. As these crescent-shaped spaces constitute one of the important improvements of my invention, I call attention to the following points in regard to them. These eccentric-spaces are not concentric with the exterior circles of cylindrical pistons D D', dsc., but their centers are removed outwardly from the centers of D D', &c., so that the distances between the centers of the eccentric-spaces E E', duc., are greater than the distances between the centers of piston-heads D D', dac., and by this 'construction they are also eccentric to the eccentrics B B, duc. In operation I would state that in a compound engine as here described the differences between the eccentric-spaces and the eccentrics proper allow (and even compel) the shafts C C to rotate at a uniform rate, whereas if the spaces were not allowed in the construction (or an equivalent means of expansion and contraction allowed by a splicing of the diaphragm G, so as to provide for shortening it and lengthening it while in motion,) the engine (compounded) would not run at all. The needed allowance for expansion and contraction is due to the fact that when the pistons D D lie with their centers on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, as shown, the distance between the centers of eccentrics B B/ is less than it is when the pistons are in any other position. The distance between the cent-ers of eccentrics B B is greatest when the centers have fallen upon lines` at right angles to 2 2, as they must fall in the course of revolution in the compounded form of engine here shown.

In connection with the engine as thus described I provide a iiexible connection for the two shafts, which consists of a helical spring S, whose ends are slipped over the ends of the shafts and rigidly attached thereto, the helical spring being for this purpose bent around one hundred and eighty degrees. The eifect of this flexible connection is to aid in regulating or synchronizing the relative movements of the two shafts. It is not essential, however, and may be omitted. A further ofce of this flexible connection is to act as a flexible fulcrum or instead of a fulcrum. It may also be applied to the movement of external machinery, as in worm gearing.

The engine as compounded permits it to be geometrically balanced in construction, which balancing is maintained while the engine is in motion, thus allowing high speeds to be attained with a minimum or absence of vibration.

The multiplication of parts in the compounded engine tends to the uniform action of its moving parts by averaging any of the common variations of wear or workmanship from a strictly theoretically-perfect construction.

The connection of the different compartments in series tends to utilize the full value of the steam by causing the leaks of steam from one compartment to act on the pistons in succeeding compartments connected in the series, and in addition the steam may be expanded from smaller into larger compartments.

By the separation into compartments of the compound engine it is possible to use some of them simultaneously as steam-driven motors and others as air or water pumps, and also it permits taking into a smaller compartment an explosive mixture, such as gasolenevapor and air, and discharging the said mixture into a larger compartment and by igniting the said mixture to either reinforce or entirely replace the steam as a motive power, or, in other words, to use the engine as a socalled gasolene-engine.

In constructing the engine the partitions are preferably inserted in a continuous cylindrical chamber and secured by pins or setscrews, as shown, or the partitions may be connected and retained in any other desired way.

The fulcrums F F are not rigidly attached to the parts of the heads or partitions through which they pass, but have a slight play or latitude of motion and are themselves springs, so as to yield slightly.

In order to have a balanced movement of parts, it is preferable to have the engine constructed with an odd number of compartments, as 3 5 7, duc., and to arrange the eccentrics and pistons in symmetrically-opposite positions on the shafts and to so proportion the parts that the two end compartments shall together equal in size and weights of moving parts a middle compartment and that every alternate set of moving parts shall move in opposition to the next other set of moving parts.

What I cla-im as new is- Y l. A rotary engine comprising two joined cylinders having an open communication between them at their tangential points and an induction and exhaust port one above and the other below said tangential point, central shafts for the two cylinders having rigidlyattached eccentrics, ring-shaped piston-heads embracing the eccentrics and a sliding and tilting diaphragm rigidly connecting the piston-heads and passing through the middle opening between the cylinders, said ringshaped piston-heads being constructed and arranged about the eccentrics to form crescent-shaped spaces between the internal periphery of the ring-shaped piston-heads and the external circumference of the eccentrics substantially as described.

2. A rotary engine comprising two joined cylinders having an open communication between them at their tangential point, and an induction and exhaust port, one above and the other below the said tangential point, central shafts with rigid eccentrics arranged in TOO IIO

the cylinders, ring-shaped piston-heads embracing the eccentrics, a diaphragm rigidly connecting the two piston-heads, and two detachablefu1crum-rods,one arranged aboveand the other below the diaphragm at the tan gential line of the cylinders substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. A rotary engine comprising two joined cylinders having an open communication between them at their tangential point and an induction and exhaust port, one above and the other below said tangential point, central l shafts with rigid eccentrics arranged in the cylinders, ring-shaped piston-heads embracing the eccentrics, a diaphragm rigidly connecting the piston-heads, and an external helical spring connecting the two shafts, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

4. A rotary engine comprising a multiplicity of twin-cylinder divisions each consisting ot' a pair of cylinders tangentially joined and having an intercommunicating opening between them at their junction, shafts in the cylinders bearing rigid eccentrics with ringshaped piston-heads embracing them, said ring-shaped piston-heads being rigidly connected by a diaphragm passing through the opening between the cylinders, and pipes and valves connecting the exhaust-port of'one division of the engine with the induction-port of another division substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. A rotary engine comprising a multiplicity of twin-cylinder divisions, each consisting of a pair of cylinders tangentiallyjoined and having an intercommunicating opening between them and an induction and exhaust port, shafts in the cylinders bearingrigid ec-A centrics with ring-shaped piston-heads embracing them, diaphragms rigidly connecting the two piston-heads of each pair and passing through the' opening between the cylinders, a separate induction pipe and valve and also a separate exhaust pipe and valve for each its induction-valve substantially as and for` the purpose described.

6. A rotary engine comprisinga multiplie# ity of twin-cylinder divisions each consisting of a pair oi' cylinders tangentially joined and having an intercommunicating opening between the cylinders and an induction and exhaust port as described, shafts in the cylinders bearing rigid eccentrics, the eccentrics projecting alternately in opposite directions in the several divisions, ring-shaped pistonheads embracing the eccentrics and a diaphragm rigidly connecting the two ringshaped piston-heads and passing through the opening between the cylinders substantially as and for the purpose described.

7. A rotary engine comprising a m-ultiplicity of twin-cylinder divisions each consisting of' a pair of cylinders tangentially joined and having an intercommunicating opening between the cylinders and aninduction and eX- haust port as described, shafts in the cylinders bearing rigid eccentrics projecting alter- `nately in opposite directions in theseveral divisions, ring-shaped piston-heads embracing the eccentrics, and a diaphragm rigidly connecting the two ring-shaped piston-heads and passingy through the opening between the cylinders, the longitudinal areas of the outer divisions being smaller than the longitudinal areas of the inner division carrying the oppositely-projecting eccentrics substantially as described. l

lJOHN c. WHARTON.

Witnesses:

T. W. HARDY, J r., J. D. ANDREWS. 

